IanB

Eric, Interesting photo. Have you noticed the 'kusari trio' only have tanto / short wakizashi whilst the boss-man has a tachi / tanto combination as he should have whilst wearing armour? Not only that, but the guy on the right is in very real danger of losing his out of his obi if he's not careful. It is difficult to see, but the gent on the left seems to be wearing a kusari katabira with tsutsu kote built in. If that is what it is, it is something I haven't seen before. Also he's the only one of the trio with suneate. You live and learn. Ian Bottomley

Tim, As Eric has said, the best thing is to either post pictures here, or if the owner of the armour wishes to keep things private you can contact me directly through this site using the 'Private Messages' button at the top of the page. Ian Bottomley

Thank you for that John. Ian B

Interesting that the sacred pearl does not in fact figure in the design. I also find it interesting that it may have originated in the Chinese enclave in Nagasaki. I have long suspected that this was the origin of sawasa products. The Dutch clearly state that sawasa items were obtained in Nagasaki, and the products were clearly modelled on European prototypes, yet the decorative themes are totally Chinese. These surely indicate there was intereaction between Dejima and the Chinese. It would seem that there may have been workshops within the Chinese compound that turned out these decorative items (although when you see maps of the place, and read how many Chinese there were in there, you can only suppose they slept stacked up 20 deep!). Ian Bottomley

Lorenzo, What appears to be M.O.P. is in fact slightly corroded silver (I assume it is the sulphide). I have noticed that when it does corrode, it seems to spread slightly onto the surrounding surface and gives a blurred look. Ian Bottomley

All, Largely bull I'm afraid. Swords glancing off scales? Really? Did he not notice the scale heads are facing up and would catch the sword? As for finger scales!!! He was correct about the Chinese brocade though - more his specallity I suspect. What we had was a very nice Edo period armour made for a member of the Sakakibara family - wheel mon. Loved the maedate with the aoi leaves behing the kuwagata. The haraidate had broken off the helmet so it couldn't be displayed. Sadly lacking its sode, otherwise all there and very high quality and splendid condition. The helmet bowl looked to be either Saotome or by Nagamichi. I suspect it may be by the latter because of the triple line of rivets on the front plate. Ian Bottomley

Bojan, You also get similar numbers on all the parts of one armour, so that the pieces don't get mixed up. In this case I am surprised because the helmet looks a high quality item and unlikely to be in an arsenal. Ian Bottomley

Piers, No, it isn't mine. Ian

Here are more details

A week ago in another related thread I promised to illustrate what I think is a real kago yari. I have now taken some pictures and include them here. Notice that the whole yari is only some 32 inches long, the head itself being 3 1/2 inches. The head is sankaku section having, on the largest face, a simple horimonon of a Buddhist sword and a short tang without a mekugi ana. The shaft is red oak with a small iron habaki and has the top section lacquered, probably originally in gold. At the base is an elegant iron ishizuki that seems to have been designed to act as a counterweight since it is quite heavy and tends to balance the blade. The scabbard is covered with bear fur with the base bound with cord, and again, seems to have been gold lacquered. There is no doubt that this whole yari is original and old. Whether it is a kago yari or a small makura yari only the original owner could have told us, but its size suggests the former. Ian Bottomley,

Piers, As you probably know, the traditional Japanese girth is tied either around the cantle of the saddle, or during the Edo period, on the right just below the saddle. I've watched yabusame riders climb on and then adjust the girth after settling in the saddle. To some extent this is because most still use old traditional saddle trees and these apparently have the space for the horse cut at rather too acute an angle for the backs of modern horses. I noted they used quite a few layers of thick padding under the saddles to compensate. Another point is to watch your own anatomy. Some armours have the front gessan laced in reverse specifically for riding. The idea being that should this gessan accidently get trapped between you and the saddle as you mount, the plates overlap the opposite way to normal and ensures they don't trap one's 'kin tama' between them. My eyes are now watering at the very thought. Ian Bottomley

Eric and Carlo, Thank you for your patience. I've had a look at some of the 'kago yari' posted and two points strike me. Those with shafts look just too long in my opinion. Kago or norimon were pretty tight squeezes and by the time there was an occupant inside there would be precious little room to spare. Manouvering anything much longer than 2 foot around inside would be virtually impossible. What I think we are really being illustrated are 'pillow spears'. Secondly, small heads with long tangs would again not fit the bill. Don't forget you have to split the shaft to carve out the wood for the tang. With some of the heads shown, the shaft would need to be split for almost the full length to accommodate the tangs. I think some of these small heads may well have been on much longer shafts. European pikes measuring 17 or 18 feet often have heads that are only 4" or so long. Ian

Eric, Oh dear. I've been in all day showing visitors around the museum and stores and completey forgot to take the pictures. I don't think it was senility, just that I was rather distracted. To be honest I haven't stopped all day. However, I promised and I will definitely remember next time I go in. Please be patient with me a little longer. Ian

All, Several years ago I bought what was described as a kago yari for the Royal Armouries collection from a Kyoto dealer. I will be going into work next Tuesday, so if you will be patient I will take some pictures. It is small - very small - cetrainly less than a meter long. It is also genuinely old and not very decorative. I remember that the shaft is mainly plain wood about 15 - 20mm diam and it has a dull gilded upper half. Most memorable is the scabbard which is covered in bristles and when on the blade makes the whole thing look like a small sweeping brush. I remember that the conservation people went a bit green thinking about what species of animal life might be living in it - putting it in deep freeze for months before allowing it into stores. Ian Bottomley

The second of Eric's pictures is an uchine without doubt - and a nice one too. The striped item is rather odd. I suspect it is the top of a yari that has been cut off and had a bunch of chicken feathers attached. The ball-shaped end to the shaft is rather suspicious and probably designed to cover the cut end. As for the item with the cut-outs on either side of the blade!! How many yari has anyone seen with crocodile skin on the shaft? I have seen pouches done in croc skin but not yari. The blade (?) seems to have a small socket that is very un-Japanese. My guess is that it came from the top of a park railing. Ian Bottomley

I am starting to see things that is a little worrying. About two months ago, a rather up-market auction house near me had an Arms and Militaria sale with a short pillow spear illustrated in the catalogue similar to some of the items I am seeing here. It had a fully lacquered shaft in nashiji lacquer, nashiji saya with gold kamon and gilded mounts. The habaki appeared to be shakudo and the whole assembly looked fabulous. Anyway, off I trotted to view, getting very excited about the prospect of adding something spectacular to my collection. But, when I examined it it was too good to be true. The shaft and saya looked like fine quality nashiji, the tachibana kamon was done in gold lacquer and the head was a nice looking sankaku shape. I didn't see the tang, but what gave it away to me was the habaki. It was copper coloured with a modern chemical blackening. I know what this looks like because I've done it myself. In addition the whole thing was just not heavy enough for the shaft to be made of kashi. It was a very clever and expensive fake over which someone had taken the greatest care. It was just too pristine. For an object pretending to be at least 150 - 200 years old, the lacquer was too smooth and unscratched, there was absolutely no tarnish or scratches on the mounts. Somebody liked it since it went for big money at the sale - but it wasn't me. Now I am seeing a similar item within a few months - hence my worry. Ian Bottomley

Back in the 60's or 70's, the Royal College of Heralds in Lodon put on an exhibition of various heraldic treasures. Published in the catalogue was a naginata bukuro described as a medieval herald's cap. :lol: :lol: Ian Bottomley

Mariusz, This is becoming a wonderful detective game. This shot confirms that the lacing was done by an amateur. The lining looks perfectly real, but the fabric around it isn't what would be usually used. Generally it would have a leather edging. I also note that the kamon on the fukigayeshi, whilst they look as if they are real, started life on something else. They just don't fit the curve and have come from something much flatter. Keep them coming. Ian Bottomley

Rich, Sadly you have taken on one heck of a task. Your jingasa is rawhide, nerigawa, that is rigid and stiff when dry but soft and flexible when moist. When made, the jingasa would have been lacquered whilst the hide was dry and hard, but when that layer cracks, atmospheric moisture gets in. This swells the hide under the crack causing further lifting of more lacquer and so on. I would advocate doing little other than trying to dehydrate the exposed hide and then keeping it that way. You can consolidate any loose lacquer by injecting an adhesive under in and clamping it down. Conservators in this country use paraloid dissolved in a solvent since it is reversible. It takes for ever to completely harden since the solvent has to evapourate through the hardened material around the edge. An armour restorer I know in Japan uses superglue, the job being done in minutes, but it is not reversible. Apart from that, I wouldn't attempt to restore any missing lacquer unless you are an expert. Ian Bottomley

Mariusz, As expected, these fittings are new. No armourer would leave the end of the fitting cut off square with sharp corners. Also, these fittings generally have the end bent back to form a spring to grip the wakidate. They are also too wide. Most are little more than 1/4" - 3/8". You wonder why the person who did this didn't look at an original and take another couple of minutes just to file off the corners. Ian

If the kamon is of three hats I am encouraged. A faker would not make a kamon of that design but would choose something simple like bars across a circle or something similar. That being the case, the shikoro is probably a real one, but whether it came from this helmet we must wait and see. It could be just badly fitted. I can believe the wakidate might be real as well. It is just the fittings for them I find odd. Ian bottomley

All, I'm sure the mabezashi and its eyebrows is absolutely correct and original. I don't think the maedate is the original to the helmet (but how many are?) since the tsunamono is too tall and stands above it. Without a closer look at details I cannot tell whether the maedate is a genuine one or not - but it looks to have a good chance. The fukigayeshi look OK, the jabara piping looks fine but kamon are rather strange. I look forward to seeing some close-ups. Still a nice hineno bowl whatever. Ian Bottomley

Mariusz, Several things strike me at first glance. The bowl is a nice zunari bachi with eyebrows on the mabezashi - maybe embossed or possibly done in lacquer. The maedate might be of the Kondo family, but I have an armour made for a Nakagawa Mochinori of Nagato with the same antler kamon. Sorry but I don't like the wakidate fittings. They might have been done a long time, but I've never seen any like this. The usual way is to cut a slot through the side of the bowl with the tsunomono, which has a flange on the inner end, pushed through from inside and rivetted. That way the wakidate can fit flush against the bowl. I'm also sorry to say the shikoro doesn't seem to fit the bowl. It sticks out at the back instead of fitting close to the koshimaki. It also wasn't laced by a Japanese armour maker. All of the cross-knots should cross the same way. This has been done by starting a lace at the lowest plate, working up to the bowl and back down again with the result that the X-knots alternate. The proper way is to start with two ends at the koshimaki and add the plates one at a time working down and doing all the X-knots the same way. I do hope I'm wrong but ..... Ian Bottomley

David, To save rescanning and reducing size, it is as easy for me to send the translation:- It says 'Inner Fujiwara uchiwa' . Ian

Henry, I think it is 'Eiyu Tasa no Kamon'. It is the modern publication of kamon of famous people. Although it does list the kamon used by various personages and families, the dozens of variant kamon on any particular theme tend just to be illustrated - annoying since invariably those are the ones you want to know about. Ian